Friday, June 29, 2012

ANTOINE DODSON CARTOONS by SUBWAYSURFER


When Fame came knocking on the door of  Alabama  resident, Antoine Dodson he 
didn't just answer the knock, he flung the door wide open, and broke off the 
hinges. Huntsville Alabama  native, Antoine Dodson, has become a member of an 
elite group  of unlikely hometown celebrities whose fame and notoriety 
skyrocketed thanks to the phenomenon of YouTube.

Antoine'sqq fame is the result of what could have been a tragic episode for his 
sister, Kelly Dodson, had Antoine not scared off a  rapist who gained access  to 
the 2nd floor bedroom if their  Webster Drive apartment. Kelly's screams alerted 
her brother, Antoine, who managed to chase the intruder off, and had a few 
choice words to say to the intruder once the news reporters arrived on the scene 
with the cameras.

 Antoine's, angry yet animated demeanor caught the attention of a legion of fans 
who after seeing the broadcast on YouTube literally skyrocketed him to Internet 
stardom.  

I personally admire Dodson for coming to his sisters rescue like he did That 
took guts, and he obviously loves her.

 For me, as an artist, I found Antoine to be a perfect animated character. 
Clearly he has the personality! LOL! He's, vivacious, flamboyant, and "in your 
face", even though he was angry, you could still see that sense of humor peeking 
through. The first thing I noticed about Antoine was his eyes and mouth. Both 
very expressive, and very animated. He's a character that definitely calls for a 
lot of dialogue, and it's would be hard to conceive of him NOT getting the last 
word in any conversation he finds himself in. The next thing was his neck, which 
was unusually long.Again, visually, this is  something, once animated than can 
add to his characters "in your face vibe" and make his  dialogues even more 
entertaining. Finally, I love his "costume" if you're doing any type of 
sustained cartoon, whether it be comics, or animation, it helps if your 
character has a " signature look" that doesn't change.   Imagine Charlie Brown 
minus his Yellow shirt  with the jagged stripe.  Antoine's red bandana with the 
pokadots combined with his Afro and black wife beater tee shirt are as 
recognizable as the late Steve Job's black turtleneck was. In an interview on 
the George Lopez show,  I was a little disappointed to find out that he 
had......changed his look considerably, which I feel  was a mistake. In order to 
"milk his celebrity status" Antoine would do better to appear in the attire "we 
first met him". Could you imagine seeing Mr. T in public without his trademark 
Mohawk, gold chains and feathered earrings? It's all about public branding. At 
the very least, he could've sold a line of tank tops or head scarfs! But I'll 
leave the marketing up to his agent.

I hope if he somehow sees these cartoons that they will bring a smile to his 
face and adds another 15 minutes to his fame!